Latest Report On Eugene-Area Hate Crimes Released

The rate of reported hate crimes for the city of Eugene seems to be holding steady since tracking began four years ago. KLCC’s Brian Bull attended the release of the “2015 Hate and Bias Report” at the historic Mims house today and has this story.

Eugene-Springfield NAACP President Eric Richardson makes opening remarks at today's event at the Mims House in downtown Eugene.

Credit Brian Bull

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Most hate crimes happened in the downtown and west university neighborhoods. African-Americans were especially affected. Racially-based hate crimes rose by more than 50 percent since 2014.

Among those present was Sam Kamkar, acting chief of the Eugene Police Department. He says some hate crimes are enduring, particularly against Muslims and people of Middle Eastern descent.

Credit Eugene Police

“I received a phone call from someone that said, ‘Hey, y’know it’s September 11. It’s the anniversary. I’m worried about going out. With all the stuff that’s going on and the election and so forth…what if somebody takes a shot at me?’" recalls Kamkar. " It breaks your heart, that here we are in 2016, and yet we have people that are sincerely in fear.”

The report shows 59 hate crimes and non-criminal incidents happened last year, 10 less than in 2014.

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Eugene police are investigating swastikas that were tagged near a Jewish fraternity.

Bryan Kalbrosky is a student and member of the University of Oregon’s Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity. On his way to class on Monday, he noticed a dozen swastikas drawn on a cluster mailbox near the fraternity house.

Kalbrosky: “In the Eugene community, this is a rare thing to see. I’ve never seen swastikas in Eugene before and I know that it’s definitely a fairly progressive place when it comes to that type of thinking. So that’s what really caught me off guard.”

This month, the City of Eugene’s Human Rights Office, in conjunction with the Eugene Police Department, released a report documenting bias-based incidents and criminal activity in our Community. It found there were 55 incidents reported in 2013 – ranging from acts of physical violence to vandalism targeting people based on race, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, and religion.